Why do corn pops come in that weird, waxy-papery bag?

March 24, 2007 4:43 PM

Why do Corn Pops come in that weird, waxy-papery bag?
posted by BuddhaInABucket to Food & Drink (14 answers total)

Guessing, the paper is semi water-proof so that they can spray liquid oil+salt+butter flavouring on it without destroying it, and because popcorn has a fair amount of water in it as well (most of which comes out during the popping).

I do know it's not necessary to actually use it to pop corn.
posted by anaelith at 4:54 PM on March 24, 2007

Um, anaelith, are you a Communist? How can you not know the difference between Corn Pops and popcorn? They couldn't be differenter.

I really don't have an answer. Freshness would be my guess. Which would beg the question "Why Corn Pops and not other cereals?" Is there something they use to make it golden and glazed that doesn't stand up well to the regular plastic? This Answer a Question with a Question MetaFilter, right?
posted by sneakin at 4:57 PM on March 24, 2007 [3 favorites]

I don't think s/he's talking about pop corn, but rather the breakfast cereal. I don't know why the strange paper though. I assume it's to keep them from going stale!
posted by web-goddess at 4:58 PM on March 24, 2007

Honey Smacks are in the same kind of bag. I don't know why, but maybe it is a key to the mystery.
posted by sugarfish at 5:00 PM on March 24, 2007

They both do have that delicious glaze, sugarfish.
posted by sneakin at 5:01 PM on March 24, 2007

Best answer: Ahahaha. I'm not a communist. I did just wake up. :)

I have actually eaten corn pops, but it was a long time ago!

Wikipedia says (even cited) they go stale a lot faster then other stuff and such need special packaging. Maybe we can take that as a sign that they're less processed?
posted by anaelith at 5:06 PM on March 24, 2007

There's no question begging going on here.

Ritz Crackers are in a waxy papery sleeve when other crackers are in plain, clear plastic. It's probably just a design choice.
posted by DU at 5:08 PM on March 24, 2007

Honey Smacks are in the same kind of bag.

I thought those came in a metallic (sort of foil-like) bag? They do when you buy the Variety Pack.
posted by nekton at 6:36 PM on March 24, 2007

They need to be protected from humidity, or they all stick together in a big block. At the very least, they get rather sticky and drippy.
posted by oneirodynia at 6:44 PM on March 24, 2007

Actually, it's probably more that the starchiness of Corn Pops and Sugar Smacks absorb humidity much more easily. So essentially what WP says.

never mind me.
posted by oneirodynia at 6:48 PM on March 24, 2007

Huh.... pretty much all the cereal i've ever eaten has come in that waxed paper bag. The clear plastic or metallic bags always seemed like the aberation thing. Could this be a Canada thing? Like cereal manufactured in Canada uses the waxed paper bags, and you somehow got a box of canadian cereal?
posted by Kololo at 8:29 PM on March 24, 2007

I've never hard cereal that didn't come in a waxy-papery bag. I'm In Canada.
posted by Sonic_Molson at 9:27 PM on March 24, 2007

I live in Texas, and a waxy bag seems normal to me. I think that Corn Pops and so forth come in slightly waxier bags, though. Almost like they're actually made of wax paper while the normal bags are thinner and not as waxy. I don't know though, I'm basing most of this on my childhood memories.
posted by MadamM at 10:29 PM on March 24, 2007

Ritz Crackers now come in a plastic sleeve that merely resembles the wax paper stuff they used to come in.
posted by rxrfrx at 4:14 AM on March 26, 2007